I have read Vansmith's review and noted the following 18 posts with interest. I had bought Mackeeper in good faith that MacWorld favoured it and it was kosher. I was nervous about the rising tide of hackers even against Macs.
I installed MacKeeper and then was advised by a member of staff in an Apple store that it was not recommended by Apple and I should take it off as it cluttered the operation of my iMac! Microsoft Security Essentials was free for my Parallels on the same iMac which Apple also recommended should be deleted! If I translate my payment of $41.94 at today's rate it cost me $63! Has anyone heard if downloads are refunded?!

I have read Vansmith's review and noted the following 18 posts with interest. I had bought Mackeeper in good faith that MacWorld favoured it and it was kosher. I was nervous about the rising tide of hackers even against Macs.
I installed MacKeeper and then was advised by a member of staff in an Apple store that it was not recommended by Apple and I should take it off as it cluttered the operation of my iMac! Microsoft Security Essentials was free for my Parallels on the same iMac which Apple also recommended should be deleted! If I translate my payment of $41.94 at today's rate it cost me $63! Has anyone heard if downloads are refunded?!

Hate to say it, but I don't think ZeoBit has any kind of return policy. To be frank - if they did, they probably wouldn't be in business today.

That said, there's nothing wrong with Parallels, or Microsoft's Security Essentials. MSE is not the most robust AV suite on the market, but for the price (free), it's serviceable. If you need an AV suite that behaves as a nanny, because you don't trust yourself to practice safe computing, then look elsewhere. Parallels is a great solution for running Windows on your Mac and will not clutter it up in any appreciable way - in fact, it's probably the most efficient way to run it.

Liquid and computers don't mix. It might seem simple, but we see an incredible amount of people post here about spills. Keep drinks and other liquids away from your expensive electronics!

You did a fine job of reviewing Mac Keeper, thanks! I have one and only one issue with your piece, and that is your separation of marketing from performance.

For me, ZeoBit's marketing practices are akin to a snake-oil salesman, selling a useless product using fear and hype. It speaks loudly to trust. While the snake oil may not be harmful, how can one ever trust it to be so? I can not separate the two, for me how something is presented speaks volumes about it's performance.

I have been blasted by MacKeeper ads. Not small tabs like you see from Facebook or other social media sites, but full-screen new browser windows claiming my Mac is in mortal peril. These sorts of intrusive and dishonest attacks make me totally distrust the company and everything it touches. If they are dishonest in their advertising, why would I expect them to be honest with their software?

I also found your description of the un-install process to be a bit troubling. Not much in the trash? Why? What did this software leave behind? How did it communicate the reason for the un-install to Zeobit after you dragged the app to the trash? You mentioned you had never seen that before; I find that very troubling in itself.

Again, thanks for the blog post. It confirmed to me what I have come to believe after doing a cursory online investigation of MacKeeper. Useless snake oil, which may be harmful in the long run -- something useless to avoid.

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin

Great and impartial review, my primary complaint has already been aired and that is in regard to the invasive and powerful advertising campaign which invades so many reputable pages I visit. If this app were half as good as it claims to be this no doubt costly advertising would be unnecessary. It has been my experience that as a community we Mac users are very good at reviewing and promoting apps that do what they claim, are reasonable value and easy to use.

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Nice write up Van. Only one question, did you happen to test any network activity coming from MacKeepers or associated files? Very curious if it reports any statistical user information back to the company.

................ I don't actually think the app is pernicious or shady (it just duplicates functionality and charges for it).

good statement.

Please remember folks, that the attitudes displayed here (those who are all too happy to go jump on the witch-hunt bandwagon against this application) are the very reason there are not MORE Mac Apps.

Mackeeper is simply a piece of software which does certain things.. There are comparable packages which you can get for free and do the same for less (or free). BUT those other packages may (or may not) have a nice easy-to-use interface....

BUT, the folks who wrote that MacKeeper already know that MOST Mac people are gullible and have more money than good sense.. So why shouldn't they create an app which capitalises on that? Face it, you didn't buy your Mac because it's the cheapest thing on the market. So what if you buy a $40 app when you could've done the same for free?

Does it make them somehow evil for offering an app for sale? Let the market decide for itself, rather than participating in this fishbowl mentality driven by keyboard ninjas, whereby the "collective" has decided they're evil. That mindset holds about as much scientific intelligence as the theory of man-made global warming, it is stupidity in motion. Do NOT be driven by hype or opinion - please consider the actual facts before you form conclusions.

Would I buy MacKeeper??? no. But I also happen to write terminal scripts by the hour, so I've already got a half-dozen concoctions to keep my Mac clean, fast, and relatively like-new..

Would I accept the word of a Mac "Genius" who tells me "Apple doesn't recommend it, so you should remove it"??? hell no. Based on my own real-world experience with Apple "geniuses", i wouldn't trust them to the proper use of toilet paper. And I mean that sincerely. They are there to sell you new Macs, NOT to help you fix your old Mac. never forget that. The Apple store staff are HIGHLY trained salesmen.

Why are MacKeeper ads "everywhere"??

I really suspect that the recent up-surge of ads is due to the acquisition of the package earlier this year by Kromtech Alliance, and they're looking to get their investment back out of it.

The deeper answer to this is simple.. Google ads. They drop a cookie on your Mac, follow where you'e been, find what your interests are, and then advertise to you. it's stupidly simple. If you're unsure of how this works, just go to say Amazon, browse thru an area of products you'd otherwise not look at, then give a few minutes... soon, you'll start seeing ads targeted directly at those same product sales that you previously browsed on Amazon. It's a simple and effective process.. And the Kromtech/ZeoBits folks hired Google to do it for them. Thy're not spamming you anymore than Google is... If you see a boogie-man, congratulations--google has been behind the curtain spamming you for 5yrs..

They've got a 2 week trial version, so (IMHO) let the user see for himself if it's worthwhile. personally, I've got no need for it, as I write my own scripts and do my own HDD cleanup.. but that's not for everyone--some of my clients are fearful of 'freeware', so they'd rather have something like this than say onyx or another app... After all, they're Mac users, already gullible and willing to pay the Apple tax. what's a few bucks more??

Dad's been a Mac User Since 1990, now being said from numerous users and friends using this particular software, well all he said was don't install it. Trust me LOL .. figured i wouldn't and actually i did, and fan started as if i never heard the fan run in turbo mode. Dad said something to do with background processing. Just a word of advise i guess. I deleted it, dad said it's not fully deleted. So i had to reformat everything. Great ...